Monitoring diet

Knowledge of Dutch food intake is of importance to food safety and nutritional science. This knowledge and these trend analyses can be employed for the formulation of policy measures for a healthier population and for risk assessments at both the national and the EU level. Food consumption data, measurement data and daily intakes have been collected for this purpose since the 1980s. These data need to be analysed and supplemented.

Goal

The general objective of this project is to obtain an insight into Dutch adult and child food intake and into exposure to a wide range of contaminants. This research will be carried out using duplicate diets. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment will use the results to carry out risk assessments and formulate policy measures.

The client has decided that a further survey of child diets will be carried out in 2014. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment will, in analogy with the survey carried out in 2011, specify the preconditions and select the party to organise the sampling.

Method

In 2014, the duties will be divided between the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and the RIKILT Institute for Food Safety, each with a separate budget for the work. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and RIKILT Institute for Food Safety will carry out their work in close cooperation.

Project result

The RIKILT Institute for Food Safety's contribution to this project will be to provide about 125 samples of frozen materials and 125 samples of freeze-dried materials, all stored in individual containers. The RIKILT Institute for Food Safety will store these samples and keep them available for analyses to be carried out in consultation with and after approval from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

The results from the analytical determinations carried out in 2014 will also be published in a report.